1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative having an excellent pharmacological activity, more particularly it relates to a 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative useful in the therapy for tumors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives are already known, and among these 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives, a large number of compounds are known to have pharmacological activities. Most thereof, however, have pharmacological activities with regard to circulatory systems, and there are few reports of other pharmacological activities having an antiinflammatory effect or liver protection effect.
Concerning 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives having some pharmacological activity with regard to tumors, U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,700 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 55-500577) discloses that a 1,4-dihydropyridine compound having no substituents at the 4-position has a metastasis inhibitory effect on some tumors. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,935 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 60-6613) discloses antitumor and anti-tumor metastasis agents comprising 1,4-dihydropyridine, such as nifedipine or nimodipine, as the active ingredient. Also, European Published Patent Application No. 221382 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-87516) disclosed a method of treating malignant tumors by using a combination of a platinum coordination compound and a compound such as nifedipine or nimodipine, and European Published Patent Application No. 0270926 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-135381) disclosed that compounds having condensed heterocyles with a special structure bonded to the 4-position of 1,4-dihydropyridine potentiate a sensitivity of multi-drug resistant tumor cells. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 64-31780 and 64-31781 disclose that the compounds represented by the below-mentioned formula (I), wherein R.sub.2 is replaced by an alkyloxy group and n is an integer of 2 to 4, remarkably increase the sensitivity of tumor cells having an acquired resistance.
Nevertheless, the inventions disclosed in the above U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,935 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 60-6613) and European Published Patent Application No. 221382 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-87516) use calcium channel blockers as antitumor drugs or use platinum coordination compounds which are a combination of antitumor drugs, and have a drawback in that the side effects thereof sometimes limit their practical use. More specifically, the calcium channel blockers used in the above prior arts all have a potent hypotensive action (blood pressure lowering action), and are drugs capable of revealing actions for the cardio-vascular system, even in small amount, and therefore, have a drawback in that the effect of inconvenient actions on the cardio-vascular system, such as a remarkable hypotension, cannot be avoided when such a drug is used in a large amount to the extent at which the antitumor action is exhibited. On the other hand, concerning the compound disclosed in European Published Patent Application No. 0270926 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-135381), when administered intraperitoneally to mice, it was found that 3 of 5 mice died at 288 mg/kg (CANCER RESEARCH 49. 1722-1726, April 1, 1989), and thus it must be regarded as strongly toxic in view of the dose (25.times.2-75.times.2 mg/kg/day). Further, many of the compounds disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 64-31780 and 64-31781 have a calcium channel blocking action and hypotensive action,.and are not always satisfactory when combined with antitumor drugs.
The present inventors have carried out intensive research into the effect of a combined use of antitumor drugs and the hypotensive action of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives, and found that some compounds remarkably increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to antitumor drugs, particularly tumor cells having an acquired resistance, and yet cause little hypotension as a side effect and have a low acute toxicity.